I was looking for a new whiskey to review today at Hokus, and stumbled upon Crittenden’s Cut Above, but this particular bottle is finished in port wine casks and then finished in Persimmon barrels. Now, I had seen some chatter on Facebook about Crittenden’s, a distillery in Kiln, Mississippi, run by father and son team James and Matt Crittenden. They are distilling and barreling bourbons, ryes, bourbon rye blends, and bourbons and ryes in various finishes. They do not have a website but do have a Facebook webpage. Based on the label, this particular bottle is distilled by them and aged five years before finishing, and bottled at a hefty 113.2 proof, which is likely close to cask strength. The mashbill is 72% corn, 17% rye, and a whopping 11% barley, which is more barley than most bourbons out there on the market. Given that they released a bourbon finished in Laphroaig casks, sherry casks and port casks, I think the Crittendons like their barley malt. The black label has the details on when it was initially barreled, barreled in tawny port wine casks, and then barrelled in Persimmon wood casks. Kudos on the full disclosure on the back label. The bottle has orange wax on the top, and I guess through some bottling line error there was nothing inside there to pull to remove the wax, so opening the bottle required a little surgery on my part, but that’s not uncommon. This bottle cost $69.

The color on this is quite a dark amber, likely due to the interaction with the port casks. One of my favorite scotches, Glenmorangie, is noticeably darker when aged in port casks. On the swirl is a thin film with small but gravity defying legs. The nose is very interesting; there is some vanilla there but the dominant notes are fruity – dark fruits and citrus – such that if I didn’t know this was a whiskey, I would think this is some sort of brandy similar to Grand Marnier or to Cointreau. On the palate on my first time trying it, I am getting all port and persimmon, very little bourbon flavor, and it is rather off-putting. After some more swirling a second sip is a little better balanced, I am getting some nice vanilla and baking spice, but the port and persimmon notes really do dominate the palate, and the whiskey is not what I would call smooth. On the finish, the baking spices really become assertive, but the port and persimmon notes take on a medicinal rather than candied taste. As I will often do, I will write these reviews and edit them after another taste after the bottle has been open for 24 hours. I did that here, The Persimmon flavors basically eclipse the other flavors that ought to be there in this whiskey.

I think this whiskey is a little too clever by half. As I noted above, I love port finished whiskies, and Sugarfield Spirits’ Rye Finished in Port Barrels is on my living room bar where I put very special bottles as I felt it outclassed MidWinter Night’s Dram, another port finished rye. There is no reasons a port finished bourbon can’t be good, even outstanding. I also get the draw of infusing local ingredients into craft spirits, like Sugarfield Spirits did by using local botanicals in their gin and locally roasted coffee in their coffee liqueur. I get that Persimmons were transplanted to Mississippi years ago from Asia, and I get the desire to put that local product into the Mississippi bourbon.

What the Crittendens have managed to do here is indeed magical – they managed to transmogrify bourbon into an American version of Grand Marnier. It may be that finishing in both port and Persimmon barrels was just to much, although given the assertiveness of the Persimmon barrels, it may make more sense to age rum or vodka in those barrels. Unless you are a huge fan of Persimmons, Grand Marnier, or Cointreau, I really can’t recommend this bottle.